Will Boeing (BA) Stock Be Helped By Billions In Defense Unit's Cost Cutting?

Boeing has cut $4 billion in costs from the defense unit, which has annual sales of $33 billion, and it plans to cut $2 billion more.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Boeing Co. (BA) are slightly higher in early morning trade as the head of the company's defense, space and security business said that nearly two-thirds of the $6 billion in cost cutting the unit is undertaking will come from savings found in its network of suppliers, Reuters reports.

"Out of the $6 billion, probably 66% of that will come out of the supply chain, maybe more," Chris Chadwick, CEO of Boeing Defense, Space and Security, said in response to Reuters.

Boeing already has cut $4 billion in costs from the defense unit, which has annual sales of $33 billion. The company has said it plans to cut an additional $2 billion.

TheStreet Ratings team rates BOEING CO as a Buy with a ratings score of A. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate BOEING CO (BA) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its increase in stock price during the past year, impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income, revenue growth and notable return on equity. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows low profit margins."